As the year winds down, I wanted to say a big thank you to Sarah Evans who organized the giving tags. Below you will see a picture of the pile of gifts that Pete Gast, Stephanie Hodge, Sarah Evans and I brought to the Senior Center. Thank you to all who got a tag and bought a gift and to those of you who donated money to sponsor a lost tag. Hardy is an amazingly generous school!

Also, thank you to Jillean Price and Mark Pattin for helping me out with the Gate Lighting event. The gate looks great and much fun was had by all who came to make a decoration and share in the holiday cheer. Thank you to Mr. Will for being our celebrity guest and Bobby for being there too.

Our Hardy music program is expanding thanks to our generous Hardy PTO donors. Mr. Ham has received 26 ukeles to start teaching 4th graders to play. He also received more drums and other real percussion instruments so that all 5th graders can have a real instrument to play on. Thank you, parents for your donations!

Tomorrow night, Wednesday the 21st, the School Enrollment Task Force will meet at 6 p.m. to discuss the results of the Hardy study. The meeting is in the School Committee room on the 6th floor of the high school. If you are interested in having a say in what happens and what Hardy looks like in the upcoming years (temporary versus permanent addition), please attend. Kate Leary has kindly been our liaison ever since the beginning of this enrollment crisis in East Arlington.

On Friday January 20th, we will have a movie night sponsored by the 2nd grade. Please contact Bonnie Walsh (arlingtonwalsh@comcast.net) if you are interested in helping her out. This is always a fun event held in our school gym.

Also coming up in February is our first ever Hardy Talent Show at the Arlington Town Hall. All acts by Hardy students and staff are welcome as long as rehearsals are attended and acts are within the time frame allowed (3 minutes, I believe). Moya and Chris Charig will be spearheading this event.

Patsy O'Brien is organizing a silent auction at the Sons of Italy. Mark your calendars and book your babysitters for March 4th; this is an adults only event. Please contact Patsy O'Brien if you are interested in helping her out. This is a first ever event for the Hardy school.

Six spectacular local a cappella singing groups will assemble for a beautiful tribute and benefit concert to honor the bright life and beautiful spirit of Arlington High School senior Catherine Malatesta who died in August, 2015 of sarcoma cancer. Headlining the program is Vocal Revolution, one of New England’s top-ranked male vocal ensembles and the Season 2 Champions of WGBH’s “Sing that Thing” amateur singing competition show. Tufts Beelzebubs, Tufts University’s oldest all male a cappella group and runner-up on NBC’s “The Sing Off,” will headline the collegiate and high school line up. The Master of Ceremonies will be singer and actress Alexandra Socha, Broadway actress and star of the Amazon Prime series, Red Oaks. All the proceeds from this amazing event will benefit the Sarcoma Foundation of America and the Catherine Malatesta Scholarship Fund.